A girl of many colors
by crayola-writer
Summary: One morning, Jack finds a runaway teen and a tiny kitten out front of the hub. The runaway is beaten and sensitive to everything. But all she needs is some Torchwood style TLC, right? Of course! Rated M for language and violence. Reviews very welcome
1. Running

"YOU WHORE!!!" he yelled and threw an empty bottle at her, missing and shattering it against the kitchen wall. "DAMNIT YOU SONOFABITCH!!" she yelled back, a crystal vase breaking at his feet. "THATS IT!!" the man screamed and slapped the woman as hard as he could.

Upstairs, Violet heard every single word. She jumped from her bed and yanked her laptop charger from the wall. She grabbed her backpack and shoved in her laptop, a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a change of underwear. The girl quickly laced up her high tops and pulled on her hoodie. She did a once over of the items in her bag, tossed in a hairbrush, a used paperback, and her ipod.

Her hand was on her crystal doorknob when a small "mew" stopped her in her tracks. "Dally." her voice was gentle as she beckoned the tiny kittien from under her bed. It crawled into her open palm and curled into a tiny ball of blonde fluff. She tucked it into the inside pocket of her leather jacket and pulled on a tobogane.

Violet quietly tip toed down the stairs and out ducked as a bottle smashed against the wall beside her. Her father stormed out and looked at her, "Wher' in tha hell you think you're goin?" She stammered for an answer, "I-I was gonna go-" "The fuck you are!" he yelled and yanked her by her wrist. She let out a yelp of pain as he stuck her across the face, his class ring clipping her eyebrow. He slapped her again and she fell to the floor.

He yanked her up and punched her, there was a sickly sound as the cartlige in her nose was crushed. Blood poured across her face and she lifted a mitten clad hand to keep the blood from dripping on her clothes. "I FUCKING HATE YOU!!! BOTH OF YOU!!" she screamed as he shoved her, hard, out of the doorway and onto the street.

She struggled to pull herself up and staggered away from the run down house. She hated her house, the neighborhood, her family! Violet wasn't ever coming back to it and that suited her just fine.

Violet shuffled along the empty streets until her feet felt like they were so cold she couldnt tell they were even there. Her sneakers were soaked from the puddles on the sidewalk and it was begining to lightly drizzle. But she couldnt feel it. She kept hunkered down into the warmth of the leather jacket and kept walking. Away from her parents and away from her life.

* * *

Jack yawned and streched lazily as he walked into the early morning gray. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his great coat and started toward the bench where he watched the sunrise every morning. Something felt off, though. A tiny little itch in the back of his mind, nagging and almost harmless. Almost.

Thats when he noticed the bundle sitting on the ground, leaned against a leg of the bench. Jack took a few more steps towards it, more curious than alarmed, and the bundle shifted. It stood, moaned, clutched its side, and feel back onto the ground. He rushed over to it and gasped aloud as he saw it was a girl. No more than fifteen. Her face was rusty brown with dried blood and was covered in blue and dark purple bruises.

He knelt down and put a gentle hand her shoulder and she flinched, "Hey, sweetheart." She tried to open her swollen eyes and to pull herself up, but quickly dropped herself back onto the freezing concrete. Her fingers clenched at the pain and she couldnt help but yelp at the pain. Jack scooped her up in his arms, unable to see her suffering so much, and started back into the hub. He pressed the secret panel with the toe of his shoe and the lift began its descent. "Hold on, baby." he whispered.

"Vi-violet. My name's violet." the girl managed to say, her voice raspy and pained. "Alright, Violet." Jack said, "Just you hang on."


	2. Stitches

Jack glanced from Owen to the girl. She was layed out across the cool metal table, stripped out of her soaked clothes and in an extra shirt of Iantos and an extra pair of boxers. "Jack. I'm not going to able to work on her if you keep hovering like that." Owen said as he dug for medical tape in a drawer.

He brushed off the remark, "So how is she?" "Well" the doctor said as he began winding tape around her slender waist, "She's got four bruised ribs, a broke nose, a split lip, one black eye, two broke fingers, and a chipped tooth. And she probably has a cold from being in the rain for so long." Jack was appalled, who could treat there child so horribly? "Is she gonna be ok?" Owen nodded and began re-buttoning the borrowed shirt, "Yeah. But it's going to take a while."

Owen dipped a needle and thread into alcohol, "Look, it's going to be ATLEAST another hour or so before she even thinks of waking up. I'll call you when she does, alright?" Jack sighed but nodded and got up from his spot on the bottom stair and walked back up towards the main area of the hub.

Violet felt pinpricks along her toes and blinked. The world was blurry and bright spots danced in front of her face, she blinked a few more times. A man leaned over her and flashed a light in her eyes. "Ow. What the hell?" Violet slapped away his hand and tried to push herself up but he firmly pushed her back down, "Stay." he snapped. She ignored him and swung her legs over the side of the table. _Bad mistake_she thought as her head instantly began to throb and the breath was vacuumed from her chest. Everything was sore, a dull ache settled throughout her body. Violet looked down at herself and noticed she wasn't in her own clothes and a wave of panic washed over her, "What? Where the hell am I?" Her feet hit cold concrete and it sent chills up her spine, the man closed the phone he was talking on and slowly walked towards her. "I'm Doctor Owen Harper. You're safe, I promise. Now I really need you to sit back down so I can look over you again now that you're awake." His tone was tense so she did as she was told.

"Now breath, slowly." Owen said as he listed intently to her chest, "Good." Violet struggled to make sense of things, last she remembered was walking in the rain and "Dallas!" she whispered. "What?" he asked as he lightly felt her wrist for a pulse. "Dallas, my kitten. D-do you know where he is?" "Sweetheart, I honestly have no idea." Tears began to well up in her eyes, "But" he recovered, "Im sure Jack does, and here he comes now." Violet turned her neck to get a look at the man coming down the stairs. He smiled brightly at her, "Your're awake! Excellent!"

He came and stood beside the doctor, "Hello, Violet. Im Cap'n Jack Harkness. Welcome to Torchwood." He held out his hand as if he expected her to shake it but Violet just stared. "Torchwhat? Where the hell am I? And would you QUIT THAT!" she slapped Owens hand away as he tried to check the stiches on her forehead. Jack suppresed a laugh as he watched the other man stalk away, "I found you this morning. You were soaked to the bone and bleeding all over the place. Remeber?"

Suddenly the memories came rushing to her. The decision to run away, her father beating her up, the walking in the rain, being picked up by someone. "You were the man at the bench." she stated. "Yep. And I belive this belongs to you." Jack handed her a small blonde bundle, big blue eyes stared up at her and meowed. "DALLY!" Violet practically squeled in delight. A sandpapery tounge licked her cheek and she giggled despite the pain she felt in her lip. "I thought you might be happy. Now lets go see if you stuff is dry." he said as he helped her down.

Violet followed him down a hallway and past a small kitchen area. They walked up a flight of stairs and into an area full of computers, they were all flashing some kind of message on their screens. They lights were making her tired and she yawned. Jack noticed and turned around, "Actually, you know what? You seem pretty exashuted. Here." He opened a door and led her in.

A cozy yet sterile room awaited her. Her laptop sat on a small desk in one corner along with her jeans and shirt. Her jackets hung off a chair and the bed had the stark white sheets pulled back in one corner.

The bed was freezing, but Violet didnt care. She was exausted from all the recent events. _Im homeless, beat to hell, and some strange place. Maybe I'll wake up and this will turn out to be a bad, bad dream. _And with dallas snuggled up under her chin, she fell into a tired state of sleep.


	3. Cigarette Burns

Jack watched the girl as she crawled wearily into the bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She looked so small and fragile bundled in the white sheets. He flicked off the lights and gently shut the door.

"Who is she?" Ianto asked as he poured fresh coffee into a mug, "I mean, she's not like some long lost great-grandaugher. Is she?" He finished stirring in whatever he put in the coffee and set it infront of his boss. Jack shook his head, "No. I found her this morning out by the bench. Yan, she looked awful. She was bleeding everywhere and soaked." Ianto made a sympathetic mumble and sipped at his coffee, "Still dosent asnwer my question though. We have to get intouch with her parents or a relative atleast."

Jack looked down into his mug. He knew Ianto was right, that they would have to let someone know that she was here. But it just didnt feel right, something in his gut was telling him her home life wasent the greatest. "Her name is Violet Conners. I had Owen run her blood work. Turns out that shes been to the E.R. three times in the past two years. Once for a broken arm. Tell me that isnt supicious."

"I had a broken arm." the younger man argued. "You fell out of a swing. She claimed she fell off her front stoop." "Still dosent prove anything. Maybe she tripped over the mat, teenagers arent known for their grace." Jack sighed, "I dont know, Yan. I just have this feeling that maybe she dosent want to go back." "Well, why dont you or Gwen talk to her when she wakes up. Find out if she wants to go back and then just go from there." Ianto suggested as he cleared away the empty mugs and put them in the sink to be cleaned later. Jack nodded, still looking down at the table. He looked up as a gentle hand touched his shoulder, Ianto leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

* * *

Gwen smiled at the very tired looking girl who sat crossed legged on the bed. She had long, curly, strawberry blonde hair, and stormy grey eyes. "Hi, Im Gwen Cooper. I work here with Jack and Owen." she held out her hand and the girl shook it. "Violet Conners. And I still have clue where I am or why Im here."  
"Well, Torchwood is kind of this place where we catch aliens to make sure they dont harm people. And there's this big rip right here over Cardiff that lets most of it in. Its our job to watch it and decide if what comes through is good or not." Violet gave her a look that said 'seriously?' but nodded and said, "But Im not an alien. So why am I here?" Gwen cleared her throat and Violets hand traced around the edges of the bruise under her right eye, "oh."

"We also help people." the woman said softly as she sat down on the bed next to the girl, "Now, Im going to ask you some questions. You dont have to answer if you dont feel like it and I'll just skip right on to the next one, alright?" Violet nodded, "Ok." "Right then, lets get started shall we? How did you wind up at the docks?"

"I walked."

"Why were you walking?"

"I ran away from home." Tears were building up in Violets eyes and Gwen gave her hand a small pat. "And why did you do that?"

"Because my parents dont care what happens to me."

"What makes you say that, Violet? Im sure they love and care about you."

"No." her voice shook and her vision became blurry, "They dont. If they did then he wouldnt have done this."

"Done what, sweetie? Who did what to you?"

"My father! He did this to me!" Violet nearly screamed at Gwen. "A _real_ father dosent beat his child and then throw her out the front door! A _real_ mother dosent stand in the kitchen and watch, medicated out of her mind! _Real _parents tell their daughter that she is precious, and lovely, and not some whore who was the biggest mistake of their whole fuckin' lives!" Huge sobs wracked her small frame and she crumpled into Gwens arms, "I dont ever want to go back to them. Never. Please dont make me go back. Please." Gwen hugged Violet closer and made soothing noise, "Dont worry, sweetheart. I wont let that happen."

Violet pulled away and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, she cleared her throat and asked, "So what next? Any more questions?" Startled by the sudden change in tone Gwen sat up and searched the girls face. "Ummmm...nope. But why dont you get dressed and we'll go introduce you to the rest of the team." "Ok."

The girl got off the bed on shaking legs and walked over to the desk. Slowly she slipped off the borrowed clothes and began pulling on her own. Gwen gasped at the tiny circles on her shoulders, they looked like cigarette burns. It made her scared to know what was under the extensive bandages wrapped around her waist.

"Ready." Violet said when she turned around. She had pulled on a pair of loose, ripped jeans, and a black sweater. "Alright then. Lets go." Gwen said as she opened the door and began making her way down the corridor.


	4. Staying

Violet carfully followed two paces behind the woman, and tried to take in all the strange sights that surrounded her. A beautiful welsh dragon was painted on one wall, and the distinct smell of fresh coffee hung in the air like a soothing blanket. Their footsteps echoed off the concrete floor and bounced around the brick and tile walls. Trickling water could be heard in the distance and so could the tell tale clack of a keyboard.

In the center of the huge underground place, Torchwood, or whatever it was, sat a work station of monitors. They were set in a circle, each one running something different. But one monitor was surrounded by smaller ones. Each of the smaller screens were flashing pictures, numbers, live feeds, progress bars, charts, graphs,or basically anything that could be displayed on a computer was being thrown at the person from every angle. A small woman-ish figure sat infringe of the half dozen of so monitors and was typing furiously away at the keyboard in their lap, head tilted slightly to get a better look at the upper left hand screen.

Gwen cleared her throat and the person swiveled around. She was a small Japanese woman with shoulder length, black hair, and glasses perched on her small nose. Her eyes were brimmed red with strain, but she still managed a smile. "Hello, Gwen. What can I do for you?" The other woman shook her head and said, "I'm fine, Tosh. But I'd like you to meet Violet, she's a friend, if you will."

Tosh looked over at the girl besides Gwen and placed her keyboard on the neat and organised desk. She got up and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Toshiko Sato."

Violet shook the small hand, "Violet Conners. Jack sort rescued me this morning." Tosh smiled, "Yeah, he tends to do that alot." A sudden beep from behind her made the woman turn around and grab her keyboard. Tosh sat back down in her chair and was opening up new windows on each screen, one by one, faster than the eye could see. "It was nice to meet you!" she said, glancing over her shoulder and smiling one last time.

The two left the woman to her work and Violet trailed behind as Gwen walked up a flight of stairs. The door was shut so she knocked. "Come in." said a muffled voice.

Jack over from the man in the corner and smiled, "Glad to see you're up!"

Violet just nodded. He cleared his throat and motioned to the man . He was very proper looking with a charcoal suit on, and a deep crimson button up shirt on underneath it, "Violet, I'd like you to meet Ianto Jones. He's in charge of keeping us all on our toes here at Torchwood." Ianto gave a small wave and gathered the three or so empty mugs off the large desk and scooted past the girls.

"If you don't mind, Violet, I would like to talk to you for a moment." She shrugged and watched as Gwen slowly shut the door on her way out. "Have a seat." Violet gingerly sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk and waited. Jack leaned back in his chair and propped his hands behind his head, "So, how old are you?"

"Im just turned fifteen a month ago."

"Fifteen, hmmmmmm. Not quite legal yet. Ah well. So how do you like here?"

"Its strange. But everyone I've met had been nice, except Doctor Harper. He's a bit of a push over." Jack chuckled, "Yeah, Owen can be kind of an ass when you first meet him."

Violet relaxed into her chair a bit, it was old and cushy, and very comfortable. "But I do like it here."

"Good. I gather you don't want to go home, do you?" She shook her head, "No, sir. Not at all."

"But you do realize we have to let some family member know you're here. Do you have any grandparents, or aunts and uncles that take care of you?" Again she shook her head, "Both my parents were only children. My grandparents don't really have anything to do with me because of how my parents act. So basically they're all I have."

"I see. And where do you go to school at?"

"Christoper's Mathematics Academy. I'm a scholarship kid. But term ended last week so I don't have to go back for two and a half months."

Jack nodded and leaned forward. He propped his elbow on his desk, his hands clasped in front of him as though in prayer, and a deep look on his face.

"Violet." She sat up straight at the sound of her name and tried not to look egar, "Sir?"

"I've been thinking about your _situation_, and I think that until we can find you a suitable place to live, that perhaps you could stay here, or in one of the Torchwood safe houses. Would you like that?"

Her chest nearly exploded with joy. Never having to go back to that God awful house, to her stoner parents, and to that screwed life style. It was a dream come true. Violet cleared her throat and tired not to let the surprise and happiness drown her voice, "Yes, sir."

Jack grinned from ear to ear, "Excellent. Now there's a safe house about a block from the plaza, but I want you here until your ribs are healed." She nodded and gently held a hand to her ribs. They hurt a bit, but not near as much as her face did.

* * *

Violet let the day replay in her mind as she brushed her hair later that night. Everyone was gone. A shrill beeping had taken them on some mission somewhere, but not that she minded. It was helping innocent people and that was good. She looked up from her white sheets and into the mirror on the other side of the room.

From this distance, her face just looked like a blur of color, and not really like a face at all. But as she closed the distance, features became more distinguished, and colors became bruises. Finally a foot away, she could tell what was what. Her nose was swollen, and red, and her eye was watery but still squinted open enough to see out of. It was an ugly purple, just like her lips. The skin around the stitches on her forehead was red and blue tinged on the edges.

It wasent a very pretty sight. Violet sighed and returned to the cool bed. Dallas was curled up on her pillow, his little kitten belly rising, and falling in sleep, and his purrs made him sound like a tiny, fluffy, car engine. Violet smiled dreamily and lay her head next to his.


	5. AN

okay guys, i didn't want anyone to panic, but...I have writers block. So I've set up this convenient poll on my profile to jumpstart my muse with the help of you wonderful people :D So please,please, please vote so I can write a new chapter and make you guys happy!


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